Smooth, sultry, and just so good.

Luther Vandross's "Never Too Much" is a classic boogie disco album that brings so much to the table, but mostly his great vocal performance is the highlight. It's just SO buttery smooth that it feels like it just glides effortlessly through the lyrics.

It's so close to perfect. It's just tracks 3, 5 and 7 that just shoot this album down for me.

"Diana" by Diana Ross is such a classic disco pop soul album that her vocals sound so familiar. Her vocals are super warm but energetic. The production for the time is spectacular and like... sparkly? I don't know how to describe it, but it feels very ✨diva✨ to me.

Once again, Mach-Hommy cooks, but not as much. "5786 AM: Easy Listen" is definitely more akin to his 2024 release "#RICHAXXHAITIAN", which isn't bad at all, but his step away from jazz rap and towards a smoother boom bap sound is not my favorite. Not bad, but not the typical rich, lush jazz rap we hear in "The G.A.T... (The Gospel According To...)". I definitely enjoyed the sampling and the features simply were AMAZING. Mavi is just so underrated and his flow ... read more

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!

Decided to start this year's pride month off with a foundational album that's rooted in the LGBTQIA+ community. Disco is such an influential genre for our community and I am so happy to say that this album does indeed slap. It's upbeat, melodic, but also vocally impressive and lovely. Donna Summer's ability to just float for the softer sections or just embrace the smooth R&B disco sound for the faster pace tracks is just pure ecstasy and ear candy.

Cant believe I've never listened besides the first two, but pop music was just so much different back then and Lady Gaga proves this with her only EP, "The Fame Monster".

Off the bat, the first three tracks are just pop perfection both lyrically and vocally. Gaga's understanding of lyrics is so apparent in "Speechless" and her vocal talents come out in basically every track here. It's criminal to say this album isn't a pop Bible, and it definitely ... read more

We are so back it's time to listen to some depressing as fuck music!

Tonight we listen to "Jackson C. Frank" by Jackson C. Frank. Don't let the serene, delicate acoustic guitars fool you as this record has some of the saddest lyrics and backstories ever.

The lyrics here are so sad with them revolving around Frank's personal life, which was scarred by lots of deep emotional trauma. The loss of his girlfriend in a school fire--which led to the majority of his body being ... read more

So depressing, but so beautiful. "summer death" is the debut album by Marietta. Lyrically it's great with some of the best and I truly mean it, the best midwest emo out there.

Welcome to Calamity.

For those who are unaware, this is a mod for the sandbox game Terraria, which I grew up on. The Calamity Mod adds hours of endgame content after the final vanilla boss (The Moon Lord) is defeated along with adding several bosses, events, weapons, etc. Many players including myself consider Calamity to be its own game at this point, and a main element that makes this mod so good is the score. DM DOKURO does a fantastic job with each track and brings the environment and ... read more

aespa finally cooks, kind of. Their new album “LEMONADE” (calm down Beyoncé stans!!) is a decent K-pop project with some fun dance pop tracks but heavily falls apart near the end. “Bite” is super cunty and I was lowkey enjoying myself the entire track. “Roll”, however, is SO FUCKING BAD. It’s literally a cover/remix/whatever of Row Your Boat. Yeah the song we sing as kids… Seriously just a 0. Regardless, I think aespa is just fine and they ... read more

Freddie Gibbs dropping a surprise EP was not on my 2026 bingo card, but here we are!

Overall, this is a fairly decent project from the Indiana rapper. The beats are great and the rapping is classic Gibbs—smooth but nightly.

This is Kim Petras’s debut album.

If you were to tell me in 2024 that Kim Petras would have my album of the year I would laugh at you. After the release of “Slut Pop Miami” and her collaboration with Katy Perry in 2024, I was fully ready to close Kim Petras off as an artist who works with the bottom of the barrel. However, her decision to drop Dr. Luke as a producer not only gave her the confidence she needed, but gave her the power to change her music, and this time for the ... read more

At 83, does former Beatles member Paul McCartney still have what it takes to make good music?


Well, kind of. I think there’s some charming tracks off this album, with the first two being really nice pop rock songs. There’s also “Life Can Be Hard”, which was really beautiful. They all have nice lyrics and surprisingly, Paul’s vocals held up, however I definitely think they’re not as good and the slower tracks really highlight that. Tracks like “Down ... read more

Just a classic emo album here. Also super gay and just full of energy. Definitely a milestone album for midwest emo and post-hardcore music. The production was decent but the vocals were passionate.

Okay real talk though best fast food pizza place? For me it's Little Caesers.

Anyways, the self titled album from emo indie rock band Tigers Jaw is a decent album that draws a lot of inspiration from pop punk but keeps it less on the upbeat side and more on the heavier side which I really appreciated.

Holy sad bro 😭

The debut album by Missouri's own Foxing is a depressing midwest emo album with some of the lushest instrumentals in emo. I think bands like Modern Baseball cover the folkier sides but "The Albatross" covers the chamber pop side, with it's emphasis on strings for its instrumentals. Lyrically this is not the happiest project out there, with topics of unrequited love and a relationship.

The self titled debut of your arms are my cocoon is an interesting blend of indie folk and screamo midwest emo. It has some really nice instrumentals but those vocals are just not it for me. What made artists like foxtails or gingerbee so great were that the screaming added depth. I also had an issue with the production. Being a debut from a small indie band it's not going to be the highest but I had trouble hearing Tyler Odom's vocals. The lyrics were really depressing and I wish I ... read more

Legendary hardcore punk producer Steve Albini heads what AOTY considers to be the "best" Cloud Nothings record, but is it that good?

I definitely think this album has its high points, with "Our Plans" and of course, "Wasted Days" just being amazing, however there are some inconsistencies that really hold this back from being amazing. Vocally, I just wasn't a huge fan and that came as a surprise as I tend to enjoy the vocals of post-hardcore. The guitar work ... read more

Man that first track is just something else, then it's just okay.

Oakwood's "Summer" is a super underrated screamo project that has some deep lyrics, especially in "I'm Still Cheering for the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team". It's super short, being only 6 minutes long but they're able to cram a lot into that short timeframe. I do think the EP suffers after track one, but overall a decent project.

Hey the girl on the cover looks like beabadoobee!

How about those vocals, though? foxtails' second album, "III" is a modern screamo masterpiece. Vocalist Blue Luno Solaz has some of the harshest, rawest vocals yet they work with this heavy sound. It's piercing and travels so well over the unique rhythms and harmony.

I think my biggest complaint would be with "zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba". It's just not good and really brings the score down for this album. ... read more

So short, yet so good. Modern Baseball cooks up another release with their last LP, "Holy Ghost". It's their least soft album with it being more centered around pop punk instead of indie folk. The folk elements are still present but not as much as their two albums. "Hiding" and the title track were moving towards that folk sound but were predominantly midwest emo.